Bill Filed for Control of GRU

State Representatives and Gainesville City leaders are at odds over control of Gainesville Regional Utilities.

A bill that will be filed at the statehouse would allow voters to decide who gets control of GRU. State lawmakers representing North Central Florida voted 3-1 to file the bill.

It was quite a discussion today forcing the Representatives to delay the vote several times until each person had a chance to comment.

A proposed bill would put the voters in charge of who will run GRU. Right now, the City Commission is in charge and the utility rates are the highest in the state. At the meeting today, a number of people spoke, calling for a change. But other residents and some City Commissioners don't want to lose local control of the utility. Representative Keith Perry says as a result of those comments, the bill will be tweaked until everyone can agree on the details.Representative Keith Perry said, "I want to look at what I proposed and see if there's ways to make it better or maybe some other actions taken by the city that requires the legislator not to do any action so we'll what and see and hopefully that will play out in a positive way."

In a Twitter message, Commissioner Thomas Hawkins wrote that voters have been deciding the fate of GRU by who they elect to City Commission.